Life as we knew it
by Rozablood
Summary: What happens when an innocent night turns to bloodshed? How will everyone cope? RxD post SK, Dimka never got changed :D Better than summary, I swear.
1. Chapter 1

I looked around the beautiful house. It was two stories, with a winding staircase and polished hard-wood flooring. It was huge, though it wouldn't look that big with our stuff in it. Of course, we didn't have that much stuff to begin with. A large, ornate chandelier hung in the middle of the second story ceiling, the walkway wrapping around it so that we could see it from the ground floor. A fireplace dominated the wall to my left, large and beautiful. Just in front of me stood a large archway that led to the kitchen and then to the rest of the house.

Of course, it would be even more beautiful if it weren't for the broken and mangled bodies in the middle of the floor.

Our realtor, a perky blonde woman that looked way to obsessed with Dimitri and I was about to bitch slap, just stared at the bodies, dumbstruck. Or maybe just dumb. Either way, she just stared at them.

I had to admit, it surprised me, too. The people were obviously human, so I wouldn't have any reason to suspect foul play from our world. At least, that's what I thought until I knelt beside them and saw fang marks on their necks. I looked in the eyes of the dead and had to hold back tears. I didn't know this family, but it cut deep, because it looked so similar to what had happened to the Badica's so many years ago. I especially had to hold back tears when I looked into the eyes of the small boy, no older than seven. His life had barely begun and now it was ended in the blink of an eye. He wouldn't go to college, wouldn't get a job and would never learn that it's okay to have fun as long as you responsible at the same time. Never again would his parents tuck him into bed when he was scared. He'd never have his first kiss, never fall in love.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and didn't need to look up to know who it was. It was large and rough, but soft and comforting at the same time. Dimitri. No, I didn't need to, but I looked up anyway to see my emotions mirrored in his eyes. I placed my hand on his, and a silent understanding passed between us. He pulled out his cell phone.

Just then the realtor decided to regain her senses and screamed a blood curdling scream at the scene before her.

I jumped up before Dimitri could do any thing and ran to the woman. I tried to get her to calm down, but nothing worked. That is, until I took the opportunity to slap her. She stood there, stunned at what I had done. I took her shoulders and made her icy blue gaze to meet my warm brown one.

"Listen to me," I started in a very calming tone. It worked, and her shoulders loosened out of their rigid posture. "Dimitri's calling help. They will be here soon, okay? Don't scream, it really hurts my ears." With my Dhampir hearing, her scream had nearly deafened me. I turned my gaze to Dimitri, but kept my hands on the human. "You calling Petrov?" I asked him. He nodded. "Kay."

I turned back to the human with a smile that quickly faded as a growing sense of nausea reached me.

"Dimitri!"

He turned to me and when he saw my face he automatically became tense.

I pushed the human woman into the corner and crouched in front of her in a fighting stance. Dimitri came to stand next to me in a similar position. We crowded around the frightened human protectively. She would only be a liability, but there was no way I was going to let _anyone_ die on my watch, no matter their importance. I pulled my stake out of its sheath on my calf, startling the human. Her eyes were wide as they took in my weapon, and she cowered into the corner even further.

The nausea increased impossibly and I swore out loud. _"__Buria__."_

"почему я когда-либо не получаю перерыв?" Dimitri muttered. I had taught myself Russian, so I knew that he had said: _why don't I ever get a break?_

"Поскольку Вы влюбились в меня," I answered. _Because you fell in love with me._

He didn't have time to answer before a Strigoi jumped out of the shadows at me. I could have taken it down easily, but Dimitri had to play the protective lover as he jumped forward and staked the Strigoi mid-flight. It was my turn to play that role as a Strigoi jumped onto his back and I lunged forward and staked it through the back.

We fought like this for a while, jumping in to save each other, until the nauseas feeling in my stomach disappeared completely. I looked up to see the eyes of a very relieved Dimitri, and nodded my head slightly twice. His shoulders sagged, and he probably would have collapsed if I hadn't caught him around the waist in a tight hug. One of his arms wrapped around my waist to tighten the hug, while the other sought out my hair. He held me close to him, reluctant to ever let go. Not that I minded.

"I love you, Comrade," I whispered against his chest.

His grip on me tightened impossibly. "I love you, too, Roza."

I let go of his waist, but his grip tightened again, and I knew he wouldn't be letting me go soon, so I wrapped my arms around his neck and brought my lips to his. We kissed, long and deep, until I forgot about all the destruction around me.


	2. Chapter 2

**I AM SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO ****SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I FEEL SO _TERRIBLE_!!!!!! I CANNOT _BELIEVE_ I LEFT YOU LIKE THAT, FALLING OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH!!!!!!! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!!!!!!**

**Okay, now that that's over with, let's recap and answer questions. I'm pretty sure that most of you don't even remember this story, but I think it's really good for what I usually do and I would love it if you gave me a second chance and went back to read the first chapter again. If not, just know that Rose and Dimitri were looking at a house for them away from court but close enough for Rose to still be Lissa's Guardian, when they were attacked by Strigoi and had to protect the preppy blonde realtor. Other than that you should be good. Oh, and Rose knows Russian.**

I stepped away from Dimitri slightly. Not far enough to remove my lips from his but enough to make him pout. I smiled a sad smile and shook my head dejectedly. We had a human to take care of. Not to mention dead bodies to dispose of.

"Жаль товарищ. Никакая такая удача прямо сейчас. Человек, помните?" I whispered against his mouth. _Sorry comrade. No such luck right now. Human, remember?_

He chuckled lightly. "Я думаю, что Вы изменились немного слишком много, Roza. Где - семнадцатилетняя девочка, которая не заботилась о технических особенностях?" _I__ think__ you__ have__ changed__ a__ little__ too__ much__, Roza__. Where is the seventeen year old girl that didn't care about technicalities?_

"Она женилась самому ответственному человеку на лице этой земли. Вы были обязаны стереть на мне когда-нибудь." _She got married to most responsible man on the face of this earth. You were bound to rub off on me sometime._

"Ummm, Вы действительно знаете, что я говорю на русском языке, правильно?" The perky—though less so by the minute—realtor lady asked. _Ummm, you do know I speak Russian, right?_

I grinned at her lightly. "I do now," I said, switching dialect. I then realized that she was shaking ever so slightly, and she was keeping as far away from us as possible. I sighed and stepped forward. She shook a bit harder but held her ground. "We're not going to hurt you," I said as I put my stake back in its holster. "We just didn't want you too end up like them." I pointed to the dead family in the middle of the room, the family that had been there when we arrived.

She slowly stopped shaking, her eyes widening in disbelief. "You mean," she choked back a sob, "that—that—_they_," she pointed to the dead Strigoi bodies, "did this?"

I nodded sadly. "They did."

That did it.

She broke down, sobs racking through her body and tears running in streams down her face. I was a little shocked at first, but was quick to kneel in front of her, my arms snaking their way around her slim shoulders. To think I wanted to bitch slap this woman no less than ten minutes ago. "Shh," I soothed her. "It's okay. I promise. I know."

She continued to sob into my body, tears staining my shirt. I really couldn't care less. She disserved a shoulder to cry on after what she just witnessed.

I pulled back slightly to look her in the face. "I'm going to call my friend, okay? She's really good at all the mushy crap and will help, I promise."

She chuckled lightly at my wording and nodded. I wrapped my left arm around her shoulders while my right went to my pocket, pulling out the new HTC Touch that Lissa insisted she buy for me. **(A/N: I saw one of those at my cell network place and was playing with it. It is _so_ much cooler than the iPhone)** I dialed her number quickly, and she picked up immediately.

"Yello?" Classic Lissa greeting.

"Hey Liss. Listen, you think you can come down to 312 South Gex **(A/N pronounced Jay. It's French) **Street? There's been a major Strigoi attack here and I need your help with a human who witnessed it. She's really shook up. It's just a couple miles east of court."

She immediately went into overprotective best friend mode. "Oh my God, are you okay? Is Dimitri? Who's the human? Is she okay? Do I have to heal anybody? Did you call Alberta? Why didn't she tell me? Are the Alchemists coming? Can Christian come? Oh my God!"

I sighed. "One at a time. Yes, we're all fine, no you don't have to heal anyone. The human's our realtor. Yes we called Alberta, she's bringing the alchemists. I don't know why she didn't tell you. And yes, Pyro Boy can come."

She sighed in relief. "Thank God. I'll be right there."

"Liss? Be careful, okay? I really don't have time to mourn over your death with everything going on right now."

She laughed. "Sure, sure. We'll be there in a few. We're leaving now. Love you."

"Love you too, Liss."

"Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up quickly before she could ask any more questions and turned to Dimitri. He smiled lightly and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. I pouted slightly.

"Oh, Roza," he murmured, his accent thick. He chuckled. "Not now."

I sighed. "Of course not."

Just then a honk was heard from outside. I looked out the heavily curtained bay window to see Alberta getting out of her Honda Pilot, along with a couple of humans with nearly invisible gold tattoos on their cheeks. I sighed.

"The alchemists are here."

* * *

Nearly two hours later I was in Lissa's black Porsche, leaning all the way back in the passenger seat. Much to a certain Pyro Boy's annoyance, who was behind me with his legs being squashed.

"Why couldn't I ride shotgun?" He whined, "I paid for half the car."

"Because Rose called it and she just got done fighting off more than fifty Strigoi. When you do both of those you can sit there," Liss explained for the millionth time.

"Yeah, listen to wifey dear and shut your trap before I shut it for you," I shot at him. Dimitri raised an eyebrow at me, but I just shrugged. "Gotta blow off all that steam somehow, Comrade." I smirked. "And Sparky here just _loves_ to help me make fun of him."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"WOULD YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP?!" Lissa screamed.

"Yeah mom. Whatever you say mom," I said as Christian just glared at me but kept his big mouth shut. Good thing, too, because I got the last word in. "Could you drive this thing any faster, mom? We're in a freaking _Porsche_ for crying out loud and you insist on driving like a grandma," I said sarcastically.

Lissa rolled her eyes but increased the speed by about 20 mph. "Better?"

I grinned. "Much."

I looked back to where Dimitri had been silent throughout this whole thing. He felt my gaze and locked his eyes with mine, a silent message passing through them. We didn't need words right now. The lust and love shone so bright and strong that it was a wonder that the others didn't see it. It took all my willpower not to jump on him and tear his clothes off in front of Lissa and Christian, giving them the revenge they deserved but a long talk in the future that I didn't.

So I just grinned and looked away like the good little girl I wasn't.

We arrived home shortly after, Lissa and Christian heading to there room groggily while Dimitri and I had to keep from bouncing we were so hyper. It was worse than the time Lissa drank two whole twelve packs of Red Bull in one sitting. It had been a dare (from me, of course) but that didn't stop it from being effective. Lissa had been literally bouncing off the walls, and her feelings had affected me, too, leaving me just about as hyper as her.

Back in the real world,** (A/N haha, I'm so funny. This is frikkin fiction!) **Dimitri and I were getting busy ripping each others' clothes off, and being very efficient about it.

**(A/N Gets into M/R/X rating here, and in NO WAY am I going to write that, so I'm gonna skip to the next morning. We all know what they did. At least, I hope we all do.) **

I woke up to the sound of my cell phone ringing somewhere on the floor with all my clothes. I groaned and rolled off Dimitri's bare chest right onto the floor flat on my face. I groaned again and felt around until found my phone in my jeans pocket. I answered it before the machine got it, silently cursing it for it waking me from my amazing dream. "Hathaway."

"This is Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD," a strong female voice answered me. "Is this Rosemarie Hathaway?"

"Yes," I answered, completely confused.

"I need you to come down to the station. You're suspected of multiple murders."

**Okay, I know that they usually come after you, but I have a reason for the phone thing. It's because they people couldn't get trough the Court's guards and Moroi made them forget everything with compulsion.**

**And to those of you who are asking, YES!! This IS a Castle story. For those of you who haven't seen Castle, get on your computer (you already are, so check that off the list) and go to ABC. Com and watch it!! It is the best show EVER!! You don't have to watch it to get this, but it would certainly help!**

**Love to all!**

**~*Roza*~**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N at bottom**

**Oh, wait… You do need to know that Kate and Rick are together but Ryan and Esposito don't know yet. They think they know, but they're not sure. They actually think that they had a "One-night-stand" and that they just did it to get it out of their system. They don't think it's anything serious. Just thought you should know.**

**One last thing—pretend they live in NYC and the Court is just outside it.**

***Talk show host voice* previously, on Life as we knew it…**

"_This is Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD," a strong female voice answered me. "Is this Rosemarie Hathaway?"_

"_Yes," I answered, completely confused._

"_I need you to come down to the station. You're suspected of multiple murders."_

"Say what?" I asked in what was surely a completely flabbergasted voice.

"Rose?" Dimitri murmured.

"Одна секунда, Товарищ. NYPD по телефону," _One second, Comrade. NYPD on the phone,_ I told him, hoping beyond hope that the person on the other end of the phone wasn't one of the few people in the U.S. that decided to learn Russian.

"Действительно? Почему?" _Really? Why?_ He asked, just as surprised as me.

"Strigoi." That was all I said, but he got the idea.

He cursed. "What about them?"

I smirked. "Люди думают, что мы убили кое-что стоящее проживание." _The humans think we killed something worth living._

The woman interrupted me. "Humans? Like you aren't?"

I paled. "You speak Russian?"

"Yes, now what was that about humans?"

"Ummm… I think it's best if we talk face to face."

"What's she saying? Humans?" I heard another voice on the other end of the line, this time male.

"Shut up, Castle. Talking to suspect here," Kate said.

"Just try'na be helpful. No need to snap."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't be snapping if you'd just shut up."

"Ah, that's not gonna happen and you know it."

"Yeah, we all know that, Castle. Don't we Esposito?"

"What? Oh yeah, you bet," another male voice was heard, this one groggy.

This was getting interesting.

"Wake up man," yet another male voice said. "We got a murder down on Maine St."

"What? Oh yeah, you bet," Esposito said again, not really paying attention.

"Dude, you're repeating yourself. Get some coffee and man up. Murder, remember?"

Okay, how many people were over there? And could we get back to the matter at hand.

"Umm, excuse me?" I interrupted. "Am I still coming or are you going to leave me on the phone all day to listen to your co-workers gripe at each other?"

Kate laughed so lightly that if it hadn't been for my dhampir hearing, I would have missed it. "I'll let you go. What time will you be here?"

"Dunno." I turned to my Russian god. "Dimitri? How fast can we get to the NYPD station?"

He looked at me with sleep-filled eyes. "If we hurry we can be there in half an hour."

I focused back on the phone. "We can be there in forty-five minutes if that's all right with you."

"That would be great. See you in forty-five."

"See ya."

BPOV (Beckett)

"See ya." Rose said, effectively ending our conversation.

I hung up the phone and glanced at the three men in the room that were staring at me expectantly. I sat there for a moment pretending to ignore them, but it was soon unbearable. "What?" I snapped, causing Castle to flinch. I quickly hid my smirk.

He recovered quickly. "What'd she say?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "She'll be here in forty-five minutes, most likely with a man. I heard them talking. She called him Dimitri." Please drop it, I thought, please, please, please…

"And what was that about humans?"

I groaned internally and rolled my eyes externally. "She was talking to the man in Russian, not thinking I could understand her, and said something along the lines of 'The humans think we killed something worth living' or something like that. Happy now?"

"You speak Russian?"

Good God, he knew how to push my buttons. "No, I just said that to annoy the hell out of you. It's a nice role reversal."

"Hey," he defended himself, "you don't have to be so mean. You know you love it."

I rolled my eyes and went back to my paperwork. He had me there.

The next forty-seven minutes and twenty-eight seconds went by completely uneventful. A lot of banter between me and Castle—completely normal—and the patronizing and knowing looks of my colleges were the only way to pass the time, and the latter was getting really old, really fast.

I was about to pull my hair out in frustration when I heard someone ask for me at the front desk.

I turned just in time to hear the lady direct her to me. The young girl headed toward me, no older than 20 years old, with silky brown hair cascading down her back and stopping at her waist. When she turned and walked to me, I was awestruck by the complete beauty radiating off of her. She had looked pretty in her picture, but that was three years ago.

Behind her were three other people, one—a male—looking somewhat like her with the dark hair and eyes, but completely different shades. His hair was somewhat long, for a guy at least, probably a little longer than my shoulder length hair.

Another, this time a girl, looked like Rose's opposite. Pale as a sheet, unlike Rose's tan, with platinum blonde hair and pale green eyes. She was supermodel-slim, another contrast to Rose's striking curves. When she smiled she was careful to hide her teeth.

The last one was another guy, with a complexion similar to the pale girl's. He also hid his teeth, and that seemed odd to me. His shaggy black hair kept getting in his ice-blue eyes. His black clothes and hair completely contrasted with what his eyes said—he was just a good guy protecting himself behind the wall of tough guy attitude.

They all headed toward me, and I stood up. I met them on the other side of my desk, holding my hand out for Rose to shake.

"Hi, I'm Rose," she introduced herself. "These are my friends Lissa and Christian, and my husband Dimitri."

I quickly hid my surprise when she introduced her husband. He looked at least five years older than her, and was a whole foot taller than her.

"I'm Detective Kate Beckett, and this is Richard Castle." I shook her hand.

She smiled at each of us and opened her mouth, probably a question, but I cut her off. "Could we talk in the interrogation room, please?"

She looked shocked at first, but seemed to remember why she was here in the first place. "Sure."

The walk to the room was a short one, but with these possible killers following behind me, I was a little antsy. Castle walked beside me and as we sat down in our usual spots—with way too little personal space, as usual—he put his hand on my thigh, unnoticed by the suspects and cameras. He even moved slightly so that Ryan and Esposito couldn't see from the observation room.

God I loved this man.

RPOV

Me and my family followed Detective Beckett into the brightly-lit interrogation room. Maybe a little too brightly lit, and it was killer to my dhampir eyes.

_You stay out here with Chris, ok?_ I sent Lissa.

_Okay_

When we got in the interrogation room door, Liss and Pyro sat in two chairs outside the door, and Detective Beckett led me and Dimitri to two chairs facing a one-way mirror. Beckett sat herself across from us, the Castle dude—where have I heard that name before?—seating himself to her right, stealthily placing his hand on her thigh. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who saw.

Beckett placed a photo in front of us, one with the family of humans from yesterday looking up at us, clearly dead but no longer having fang marks on their necks. The alchemists did their job well.

I picked the photo up, holding back tears when I saw the little boy again.

"Do you recognize these people?"

Beckett's voice brought me out of my thoughts. I cleared my throat. "Yes."

She raised an eyebrow—damn, I'm glad I learned how to do that—"You do?" She obviously expected me to deny it.

I shook my head in a sad little gesture. "Yes. And I'm sure you know it seeing as you called me down here. I watch TV you know. Maybe even a little too much."

She gave a semblance of a smile. "Okay then. How do you know them?"

I sucked in a deep breath. "I saw them in that same position when I was shopping for a new house."

"And why didn't you call the cops?"

I closed my eyes and opened them again. "I had a lot on my hands. I was about to, but as soon as I tried I was attacked."

Castle spoke for the first time. "Attacked? By whom?"

I grinned at his grammar. It slid off my face quickly. "I don't know. Honestly. They didn't even say anything—not that I gave them time to. This girl knows her way around the boxing arena, if you know what I mean. I handed his ass to him on a silver platter when more came up at me, and I just barely got through it all without injuries. I forgot about the police after that. I just went home to have my friend Lissa out there look at me—she is studying to be a doctor, you know? And she's really good for someone to go to for injuries, both minor and major. But all she said I needed was rest, so I did that. I was having some weird dream about a banana split killing a fudge sundae until you woke me up."

At the last part she grinned, as did Castle and Dimitri. "What time did you get to the house, and can you account for your whereabouts for about 3 p.m. that day?"

"We got to the house about, what, 5:30? That's right isn't it?" I asked Dimitri.

"5:40, I think."

"Wait," Castle said. "You were there too?"

"We were house shopping. Of course I was there. I helped her fight off the attackers and drove her home. I didn't call the police because I didn't think of it either, or I would have."

"Anyway," I interrupted. "At three we were at The Old Haunt, you know, the bar with all the crazy history. Anyway we had a few drinks, or should I say _I_ had a few drinks, because this crazy man would rather be a designated driver, and left around four. We looked at one more house before we reached this one. Too bad about all this, because that was looking like my favorite."

Beckett looked over at Castle. "Well, owner of The Old Haunt, you think you look into that for me?"

I nearly choke on my own spit. "You own The Old Haunt? That's awesome!" I said to Castle.

He grinned. "Yep. But I'll still be asking around about that alibi."

I waved my hand. "That's fine. It's just cool to meet the owner. The Haunt is my favorite bar."

Beckett raised an eyebrow. "Are you even old enough to drink? You look like you could only be twenty."

"What? Oh, yeah, that's what the guy at the bar said too." I reached into my back pocket, where my ID was from yesterday. I handed it to her. "Twenty-two. Have been for about a month and a half now."

She looked down at it, confirming my age. "Do you mind if I keep this? It's just procedure. You'll get it back when it's no longer needed, or you get a new one."

I waved it off. "Keep it. I have plenty of people to drive me around until I renew it."

I brushed my hair to one shoulder, in the process accidently allowing Beckett and Castle to see my tattoos.

Beckett's eyebrows knit together. "What is that? On your neck, I mean."

I sighed and pulled my hair into a high bun. "Tattoos. I'm a bodyguard of sorts, and every time I protect my charge, I get a lightning-style X." I turned and allowed her to see them better—all 17 of them. I turned back to her. "The other tattoo is my promise mark. It's what I got when I graduated, something stating me as an official guardian. This hunk of meat sitting next to me has some, too."

They turned to Dimitri, and he showed them his 13 molnija marks and promise mark.

"Impressive," they said in unison.

Deciding that now was the most opportune time, I asked, "So, how long have you two been together?"

They both stiffened. "We're not…"

I interrupted Beckett. "Don't give me that shit. I know what it's like to have to hide love from everyone. Also I saw where Castle here put his hand at the beginning of this whole thing."

They both blushed like crazy, making me laugh. "Hey, I'm not judging you. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that I was a prime suspect in a murder right now, I'd probably bribe you into coming down to The Haunt and having drinks with us. Me and my friend Liss are great with this kind of stuff. In fact, it was me that convinced Christian to propose to Lissa. He's not that great with romantic stuff unless it's under the sheets. Don't get me started on how I know that, Liss is just very descriptive. Chris is like a brother to me, so that's just gross."

They were still blushing, so I decided to break the tension. "Hey, does this place have a gym? I haven't had a good workout in a long time."

Kate smiled lightly. "Yes, it does, but unless you work here you have to have someone watching you."

I grinned. "That's great! Hey, if I asked you to spar with me and you said yes, and then I hit you while sparring, would that be considered assaulting an officer?"

She shook her head. "Not if I said you could hit me, no."

"Great! Can I spar with you then? You could even tag team me, I need the extra practice."

She laughed. "Let's discuss this somewhere else."

Rick and Kate led us out of the room. I stopped by Liss and asked for my iTouch, because I knew that if I was gonna spar with anyone, I always did it better with music.

KPOV

I sat by Rick as he called the bar, confirming Rose and Dimitri's alibi. "Looks like their clean. Kevin said that they even paid with a credit card, so we know they were there until their last drink, which was about 3:55, so they couldn't have been at the murder."

I sighed. "I figured as much. You wanna watch me spar?"

His face lit up like a kid's on Christmas day.

RPOV

After watching Rick confirm our alibi, Kate came over and agreed to spar with me. "Castle and your friends can come and watch, too, if you want," she stated.

I grinned. "Cool. Do you happen to have an iPod dock? If not I can listen through my headphones, but they tend to fall out at the wrong moment."

She laughed. "Yeah, I do. Why don't you go get ready, and I'll go get the dock from the locker room?"

I grinned. "That's fine. Oh, one more thing?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have an extra pair of sweats? I didn't bring my gym bag and I hate exercising in jeans."

"I think I do. Just follow me."

She led me upstairs to the precinct gym, giving me a pair of sweats and telling me where to change. I emerged in my black and white sports bra and a pair of grey sweats with "The Twelfth" written down the left leg. My hair was in a secure bun and my favorite tennis shoes on.

Kate was in similar attire to me, opting for a plain black sports bra instead and a pair of New Balances instead of my Nikes. When she saw me coming she pointed to the speakers on the wall and the dock under it. I gave a thumbs up as a thanks and plugged my iTouch into it, putting it on the first song that came up, which happened to be "Take it Off" by Kesha. Turning away I saw Dimitri, Lissa, Chris and Rick standing against the back wall, all eager to watch a couple chicks fight. Even Lissa was excited.

I did a couple stretches and got into position, Kate doing the same.

_There's a place downtown where the freaks all come around_

_It's a hole in the wall, it's a dirty free-for-all_

_And they…_

_When the dark of the night comes around, that's the time_

_That the animal comes alive lookin for something wild_

_And now we lookin like pimps, in my gold Trans-Am_

_Got a water bottle full of whiskey in my handbag_

_Got my drunk text on, I'll regret in the morning_

_But tonight I don't give a, I don't give a, I don't give a…_

I stood in a low crouch, my feet spread for balance and hands in fists, up and protecting my face. I had found some tape and wrapped it around my knuckles. Kate was in a similar position to mine, her feet closer by a small amount, and she was standing a little taller. It was a popular move, one of intimidation. Not that it worked on me, though.

We circled each other, waiting for a fault in the other's moves. Obviously, she found one first.

Her foot shot out at an amazing speed for a human, almost knocking the breath out of me, but I rolled just in time. Her foot sailed mere inches above my head, and I used her leverage towards me to my advantage. I grabbed her leg, almost missing it, but my fingers tightly grasped her ankle, making her lose her balance for a second. I used that, kicking out and knocking her other leg out from under her, landing her flat on her back. I held her leg in my arm and came up to her, pinning her with her own body. She looked surprised, but didn't go down easy. Using her arms, she spun and pushed until she was the one pinning me, her knees on my throat and holding my arms with hers.

She wasn't the only one that didn't want to lose, though. Using my dhampir flexibility, I wriggled my hands out of hers and spun my body up and away from her, nearly losing my ability to breathe when her knee pushed harder on my neck in the process. She held me down for much longer than I thought she could, but I eventually made it out of her grasp and back to my feet, crouching low again and ignoring the burn in my throat.

There was something familiar with the way she was fighting, something I couldn't place. Her moves were quick and precise, very uncommon when it came to humans. That and the fact that she was the only human who seemed like she had a chance against me was very unnerving.

Still, we continued our fight, landing hits here and there, but mostly blocking the other's kicks and punches. You could tell that Kate had had some intense training sometime in her life.

The songs changed occasionally until it reached the last song of the short playlist, DJ's Got Us Fallin' In Love, by Usher ft. Pitbull. Though not exactly appropriate, I had it on this playlist because Dimitri was usually the only one I sparred and it had a good beat.

_So we back in the club, with our bodies rockin' from side to side_

_Side, side to side_

_Thank God the week is done, I feel like a zombie goin' back to life_

_Back, back to life_

_Hands up. Yeah suddenly we all got our hands up_

_No control of my body_

_Ain't I seen you before? I think I remember those eyes, eyes, eyes_

_Eyes, eyes eyes, eyes_

I sped up my pace a little, pushing my body to its max. Kate seemed to do the same, but she was more worn out than I was, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. As the last line of the song played, I knocked her off balance with a quick punch that she wasn't expecting. I pulled to the ground and pinned her, and this time she didn't fight.

_Thank you DJ_

Just as I helped Kate up my phone rang, and I rushed to Lissa, who was holding it. Seeing the called ID, I sighed and flipped the phone up, putting it on speaker so Dimitri could hear. "What Adrian?"

"Rose, Rose, Rose, guess what?" He didn't even say hello—not that I did either—and sounded like he was on a sugar rush and/or drunk/high.

"Whoa, slow down there buddy. I can only hear one word at a time. What?"

"I found her! I found Lissa's sister!" You could practically hear him jumping up and down.

I stared at my phone in shock. "You _what?"_

He slowed down for a second. "Well, I found her mom at least. Records say she has only one daughter, but it doesn't give a name. And get this, Eric didn't cheat. He gave away his semen to one of those crazy charity things, but only gave enough for one person, so only one person other than Liss has his royal blood."

I walked over to Liss and put my arm around her shoulders, squeezing her. "Well, who's the mom?" I said and smiled down at her.

"Johanna Beckett."

**WHAT NOW!** **Hell ya I just put that on you. I lied last chapter, BTW. I said you wouldn't have to watch Castle to read this, but I changed my mind. So if you don't know who Johanna (Did I spell that right?) Beckett is, stop reading! I don't have the heart to put this as a crossover b/c no one ever looks at those, so I'm putting it here.**

**Love Y'alls!**

**Roza**


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